Long Term Effects of the Pandemic on Urban Mobility: The Case of Free-Floating Bike Sharing in Padova

The spread of Covid-19 virus all around the globe has drastically changed our lifestyles and our habits. Among all aspects affected by the pandemic, mobility has certainly undergone huge changes. Understanding these changes is crucial for the improvement of future urban planning. Since the world is moving in the direction of a more sustainable mobility, our analysis has focused on bike sharing systems and we have utilized the city of Padova (Italy) as case study. In particular we have analysed the data relative to three periods that are representative of Pre-Pandemic, Pandemic and Post-Pandemic worlds. We have highlighted the effects of the pandemic on bike sharing users’ behaviors not only during the emergency period, but mostly with a long-term perspective. We have observed an increase of the total amount of rides, as well as an expansion of the service towards more peripheral areas, and a greater predisposition to use the bike in the free time or when the weather conditions are not ideal.